15/09/10

Ferrari 250 GT SWB ‘Breadvan’

The wealthy Italian Count Volpi, racing driver and owner of the racing team ‘Scuderia Serenissima’, personally ordered two Ferrari 250 GTOs from Enzo Ferrari in 1962, just after the cars had been unveiled to the public. However, Volpi had fallen out of favour with company president Enzo, who refused to supply him with the two GTOs. The count then decided to build a Ferrari which was quicker and lighter than the GTO – and therefore had the potential to beat it in races.
In a calculated move, Giotto Bizzarrini, the creator of the GTO, charged Volpi with completing this task. Together with Piero Drogo, a racing driver and body maker from Modena, Volpi created a pure-bred racing car from a standard 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB (‘short wheel base’), whose distinguishing characteristic was its aerodynamic form: the outline of the car was based on discoveries made by the aerodynamic specialist, Wunibald Kamm. A long low-profile tail with a sharp edge provided clear advantages when compared to classic sloping or gradient tail ends. The front was also designed to create less resistance in comparison to the Ferrari GTO: with a sweeping flat shape, it is incredibly aerodynamic – and a bit more modern than the classic GTO, which is celebrated by enthusiasts as a stylistic masterpiece.
Presented to the public under the name Ferrari 250 GT SWB Drogo, it was quickly renamed the ‘Breadvan’ by the general public and journalists because of its striking tail shape. It was probably never actually used as such, but it did fulfil the task it was originally designed for: it was seven km/h faster than the Ferrari GTO on the long Hunaudières straight in Le Mans.www.schlossbensbergclassic.com/news.html